Former National Assemblyman Kim Gwang-rim and Former Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Lee Dong-il Appointed as Special Chair Professors
Top experts who served in key government positions for economy, agriculture, etc. who served as heads of major agencies
Expected to pass on ‘expertise and leadership’ gained in administrative and legislative bodies to juniors
[September 14, 2021]
<Former National Assemblyman Kim Gwang-rim (left) and Former Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Lee Dong-pil (right) who were appointed as special chair professors of YU>
YU (President CHOI Oe-chool) appointed two minister-level figures as special chair professors.
They are former Assemblyman Kim Gwang-rim (73) and former Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Lee Dong-il (66). They are all alumni of YU and with their appointment as special chair professors, they will begin fostering their juniors at their alma mater. Their tenure is until August 2022. In the morning of the 14th, President CHOI Oe-chool held an appointment ceremony at the president’s reception room and appointed them as special chair professors.
Special Chair Professor Kim Gwang-rim (School of Economics and Finance) is from the YU Department of Economics class of ‘69. He earned his master’s in public administration at Harvard University Graduate School of Public Administration and Seoul National University Graduate School of Public Administration, and earned his PhD in public administration at the Kyunghee University Graduate School of Public Administration. After graduating from the YU Department of Economics, he passed the public administration exam and worked at the Economic Planning Center and Finance and Economy Center, then served as the 16th director of the Korean Intellectual Property Office and Vice-minister of Finance and Economy, thus being one of Korea’s top economic bureaucrats of the Republic of Korea. He served three terms as an Assemblyman in the 18th, 19th, and 20th National Assembly, and he is an expert of economics and finances who worked both in administrative and legislative branches, working in the planning and finance committee for about 11 years.
Special Chair Professor Lee Dong-pil (Department of Food Economics and Service) is from the YU Department of Livestock Management class of ‘74. He earned his master’s degree in agricultural economics at Seoul National University and his PhD in agricultural economics at the University of Missouri. He served as the 12th director of the Korea Rural Economic Institute and the 61st Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Minister Lee graduated from YU majoring in livestock management in 1978 and joined the Korea Rural Economic Institute in 1980, and is an expert on researching development directions for agriculture and rural areas for over 30 years. He worked as a working-level member of the agricultural policy review committee under the Prime Minister’s Office in 1994, full-time member of the presidential committee on regulatory reforms, chair of the regulatory review committee of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, mid-term finance task force leader in the agriculture and food sector of the Ministry of Strategy & Finance, and an expert member of the presidential committee for regional development.
The two special chair professors appointed have spent decades in key government positions where they have gained practical experience and expertise, and were recognized for their leadership abilities by serving as the heads of their respective institutes. Their extensive experience and expertise are expected to be handed down directly to their journals from the podium of YU, which is their alma maters.
YU President CHOI Oe-chool said, “It is a great honor to be able to have YU alumni who spent decades in government agencies that establish the major policies of the Republic of Korea, and who event headed those agencies,” adding, “I believe that the paths of the alumni right next to the development of Korea will be great motivation for students and serve as their role models. I humbly ask that alumni pass on their expertise and experiences in various fields to their juniors.”
